South American airline to ditch seats for standing only

Commercial airline VivaColombia have plans of standing-only flights in a bid to boost sales and maximise revenue.

The days of charging passengers for extra legroom or upselling seats to a premium upgrade are gone, and instead people may end up paying for a less comfortable flight, all in the name of saving money.

Unlike the current seating instilled in most flights, vertical seating won’t be structured into aisles. It will instead see travellers leaning against a bar stool-inspired perch and backrest. Passengers will still wear a seat belt which will go over their shoulder, similar to the jump seats used by cabin crew during take-off and landing.

This isn’t the first time vertical seats have been a travel option. In 2010 Ireland’s low-cost airline Ryanair tried to implemented the concept, however the plans drew criticism from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who were concerned about the safety factors.

However, VivaColombia’s founder and CEO, William Shaw is still keen to try out the standing concept on his fleet of commercial planes.

“There are people out there right now researching whether you can fly standing up, we’re very interested in anything that makes travel less expensive,” he told the Miami Herald.

He added: “Who cares if you don’t have an in-flight entertainment system for a one-hour flight? Who cares that there aren’t marble floors... or that you don’t get free peanuts?”

Despite not being approved by the CAA, an increasing number of carriers including Spring Airlines have expressed interest in vertical seating for their consumer flights.